2004 Kansas City Royals Preview

Friday, March 12 2004 @ 12:01 PM EST

Contributed by: Pistol

The K.C. Royals
Two Thousand and Four Preview
‘Building on Last Year’

2003 Results:

83 wins, 79 losses Runs scored – 836 (4th in AL)
3rd in AL Central, 7 games backRuns allowed – 867 (12th in AL)
Pythagorean record – 78-84


Players AcquiredPlayers Lost
Benito SantiagoPaul Abbott
Kelly StinnettAl Levine
Tony GraffaninoJose Lima
Scott SullivanGraeme Lloyd
Matt StairsJamey Wright
Juan GonzalezTom Prince
Rich ThompsonRaul Ibanez
Jamie CerdaMichael Tucker
Rondell White
Brent Mayne
Mike DiFelice


2003 Overview
Overachieving
Stayed in contention until
Stretch run fade

Rotation:

Pitcher Age Throws Innings ERA ERA+ K/9 BB/9 HR/9
Anderson 32 L 197.7 3.78 118 4.0 2.0 1.2
May 32 L 210.0 3.77 135 4.9 2.3 1.3
Appier 36 R 111.7 5.40 81 4.4 3.5 1.7
Affeldt 25 L 126.0 3.93 129 7.0 2.7 0.9
Ascencio 23 R 48.3 5.21 97 5.0 3.9 0.7



Overall pitching
A serious conundrum
Can’t wait for Greinke

Soft tossing lefty
Anderson will be helped from
Fences moving back

Runs allowed were low
This year they shout out ‘May Day’
ERA rises

Old man Appier
Still taking the mound this year
Fans still shout ‘May Day’

Blister problems gone
Affeldt will become staff ace
Enjoy the breakout

The windup and pitch
Ball from Ascencio wide
Ump yells ‘take your base’

Bullpen:

Pitcher Age Throws Innings ERA ERA+ K/9 BB/9 HR/9
MacDougal 27 R 64.0 4.08 124 8.0 4.5 0.6
Leskanic 36 R 52.7 2.22 212 8.5 5.0 0.3
Sullivan 33 R 64.0 3.66 118 7.9 4.5 0.8
Carrasco 27 R 80.3 4.82 105 6.4 4.5 0.9
Grimsley 36 R 75.0 5.16 98 7.0 4.3 0.7


Bullpen gets upgrade
But walks are still a problem
Yet home runs are low

MacDougal’s first year
Racking up saves all year long
But causing heartburn

Curtis Leskanic
Successful despite the walks
Repeat unlikely

Free agent signing
Sullivan upgrades bullpen
A nice addition

D.J. Carrasco
What does DJ represent?
Daniel Carrasco

Journeyman Grimsely
Racked up the innings last year
Average pitcher

Lineup:

Batter Age Pos Bats ABs Ave OBP SLG EQA
Santiago 39 C R 401 .279 .329 .424 .265
Sweeney 30 1B R 392 .293 .391 .467 .291
Relaford 30 2B S 500 .254 .315 .376 .240
Berroa 25 SS R 567 .287 .338 .451 .268
Randa 34 3B R 502 .291 .348 .452 .269
Gonzalez 34 LF R 327 .294 .329 .572 .291
Beltran 27 CF S 521 .307 .389 .522 .310
Guiel 31 RF L 354 .277 .346 .489 .273
Stairs 36 DH L 305 .292 .389 .561 .313


Rookie of the year
Way back in eighty seven
Still contributing

Sweeney rakes and takes
Staying in the lineup key
Injuries common

Desi Relaford
Five syllables is that name
I have nothing here

Angel Berroa
Baird asks ‘Who’s the genius now?’
Slick fielding short stop

Resigning Randa
Filled potential hole at third
Solid role player

Former MVP
Juan Gone adds punch to lineup
Only if healthy

Superstar Beltran
In final year of contract
Hello, Steinbrenner!

Late bloomer Guiel
Cracked the lineup at thirty
Likely journeyman

Big righty masher
Stairs provides punch from left side
There’s the bench Harvey

Bench:

Bench Age Pos Bats ABs Ave OBP SLG EQA
Harvey 26 1B/DH R 485 .266 .313 .408 .240
DeJesus 24 OF L 215 .298 .412 .470 (AAA)
Graffanino 32 IF R 250 .260 .331 .428 .268
Stinnett 34 C R 186 .237 .302 .355 .230


Can’t hit right handers
Harvey needs a platoon mate
Say hello to Stairs

Emerging rookie
DeJesus will be needed
Teammates are fragile

Short name is Tony
Anthony Graffinino
Utility sub

Journeyman catcher
Stinnett backing up Benny
Dime a dozen catcher

Top Prospects:
The best of the best
Zach Greinke is coming soon
Summer arrival?

Left handed Gobble
B plus rated by Sickels
Bullpen in 04?

2004 Outlook:
Regression to mean
Offsets good off-season moves
Third place once again

Overall record
Eighty-one and eighty one
Five Hundred Baseball

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